Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Darling Girl by Liz Michalski

9 reviews

sydthewitch's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Fantastic story, medium writing
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dragoninwinterfell's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Darling Girl really is a mixed bag and a true 2.5 star book. There was so much I loved about it and there were so many ways it fell horribly short.
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outtoexist's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a wonderfully written, well paced, enjoyable read except that the entire plot was based on some deeply ablist thinking. It is essentially about a mother who does some pretty fucked up things to "save" her child from the horrors of being disabled (specifically in a wheelchair, although other disabilities are implied?). It literally says he would have eventually "given up" (on life?) if he were unable to run which.... Oof. 
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haileybones's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I didn't like much of anything about this book. The premise has promise and the prose is fine, but it ends up being a slow, somewhat nonsensical trod with an insufferable main character. She is very "upper class white lady" and it is not sympathetic. A lot of plot threads are left loose or resolved by telling, not showing -- you're told about the climax, but don't experience it. You only get a taste of the characters you're excited to see reimagined and never go to Neverland itself. (A lot of these issues could have been solved by having multiple POV characters.) And the whole thing read as ableist to me. Would a disability really make Jack's life not worth living? His ultra wealthy CEO/brilliant research scientist mother couldn't make any accommodations to improve his quality of life? To the extent that she'll nuke their lives over and over with childish lies that benefit no one? And then not face any lasting consequences for it? And that's only the tip of the icber-- /rant
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joycarletti's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I spent a lot of time while reading this book questioning why the main character was doing what she was doing, and where the urgency was considering the traumatic things happening to her. It itched at me. I think the pace of her response ruined the book for me in many ways. 
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lauralovesherbooks's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

1.0

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ahenkel's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

READ TW FOR THIS BOOK! Specifically a depiction of SA

I expected a lot more magic from this story even with Peter as the villain.

The story was pretty good but the book spent a lot of time making no progress and the Neverland you expect is largely missing. Despite the writing that I didn’t love I would’ve given this book closer to 4 stars except for the casual ableism
(Jack returning to a wheelchair being the worst possible outcome Holly could think of)
and the sexual assault scene that I think could’ve been easily replaced and kept the significance.

Writing- ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot- ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall 3.5 stars
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bookishkale's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Ugh this plot could have been so good if a few things were changed. I think I needed to focus on different elements. Tell the story of the real Peter through the eyes of each of the Darling girls instead of whatever this ended up being. The author is talented but this is just not the book for me. Wish I liked it more. 
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abookwormsgarden's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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